Student Says Noose Wasn't a Threat: UCSD Paper

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This image shows the noose hanging in the library with officers in the background.

An anonymous student claimed responsibility after an incident stirred up the local campus last week.

In a report published Monday in the UCSD Guardian student paper, the editors stated they had confirmed the "author's authenticity." On Tuesday, Judy Piercey, a UCSD official, confirmed that the person who wrote the apology letter is in fact the person alleged to have put the noose in the library. Pierce also said the student is actually a "minority student" but isn't a "black student."

The noose's discovery stirred up a campus already boiling with racial tension in the wake of an off-campus event called the Compton Cookout.

In the Guardian's article, the self-described "girl" apologizes and says she "deeply regrets" what she did, saying she had no excuse and adding that she was "distraught to know" that she had "unintentionally added" to the pain being felt by "students that have been affected by the recent issues on campus."

"I found a small piece of rope on the ground earlier in the day.... My friend then took the rope and tied it into a noose," the writer stated. "I innocently marveled at his ability to tie a noose, without thinking of any of its connotations or the current racial climate at UCSD."

The writer stated that she ended up hanging it by her desk at the library, where she forgot it. She also said "the first thing I did was call the campus police and confess" after realizing the incident had been interpreted as "another racist act on campus."

Protests broke out at the campus in the wake of the noose's discovery. What appeared to be hundreds of students took part in protests Friday. Hundreds of people sat silently in a large group wearing black and listening to fellow students who said they were tired and hurt after nearly two weeks of racially charged events.

UCSD Students Angry Over N-Word

The notorious Compton Cookout -- which invited participants to a ghetto-themed party during Black History Month -- was held the weekend of Feb. 13-14,. Next, the N-word was used on student-run television to describe critics of the Compton Cookout. Funding was then suspended for 33 media groups financed by the Associated Students.